Trunk



Patented Mar. '28, 1899. F. J. PALIGA.

TRUNK.

(Application filed July 20, 1896.)

2 Sheets-Shoot I.

(No Modql.)

I Ira 67d? a 77 71 76." fah'da.

ATENT FF ICEe FRANK J. PALIOA, OF RACINE, WVISCONSIN.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,972, dated March 28, 1899.

Application filed July 20,1896. Serial No. 599,898. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK J. PALIoA, of Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of trunks, sample-cases, and analogous receptacles in which the front wall of the body of the trunk or case is cut down at the upper edge or made of less height than the end and rear walls thereof for the purpose of facilitating access to the contents of the trunk without reducing the capacity and in which the lid fits upon or overlaps the outside of the upper margins of the trunk-body.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved overlid trunk or case having characteristics above referred to and which is of simple, strong, and rigid construction; and the invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- V Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trunk or sample-case embodying my invention, the usual trimmings other than those pertaining to the present invention being omitted for sake of clearness of illustration. end elevation of the upper part of the trunk shown in Fig. 1, showing the same closed. Fig. dis a rear elevation of a portion of the upper part of the trunk. Fig. l is a transverse vertical section taken on line t 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1, illustrating a modification. Fig. 6 is a rear side perspective of the trunk shown in Fig. 5, showing the same closed.

Referring to said drawings, A designates as a whole the lower portion or body of the trunk, and B the hinged lid or cover thereof. The trunk-body comprises end walls A A, front and rear walls A A respectively, and a bottom wall A said walls being herein shown as made rectangular and oblong and forming, in connection with the fiat-topped Fig. 2 is an form of lid illustrated, a rectangular trunk. It may be stated at this point, however, that while both the modifications illustrated herein show trunks having flat lids such construction is not essential, and the lid may be convexly curved or made barrel-topped, if so desired.

The front wall A of the trunk-body is cut down at its upper margin or made of less height than the end and rear walls of the body in order to facilitate access to the contents of the trunk without decreasing its capacity, such construction obviously leaving the front upper corner portions of the end walls A unsupported when the trunk is open. The end walls B B of the cover are arranged to fit outside of the corresponding upper mar gins of the end walls of the trunk-body, While the front wall B is adapted to fit outside of and against the end margins of the upper portions of said end A and to rest at its lower mar gin upon the ledge formed by the upper edge a of the front A The end walls 13 of the lid are supported by end strips (3 C, the upper edges of which form supporting-ledges c 0, preferably arranged to coincide in height with the front ledge a. The top wall B, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, is arranged to fit upon the upper edges of the trunk-body at its end and rear sides. At its rear edge the lid B is connected with the rear wall A by ordinary strap-hinges D D, secured to the 6X* te-rior surface of the respective parts, with their pivotal axis arranged in line with the meeting-point of the surface planes of the top and rear sides of the trunk. In order to afford additional strength and rigidity to the upper edge of the rear wall A of the body which sustains the entire weight and strain of the lid when open, a strengthening-strip or inner ledge E is shown as secured against the inner surface of said wall, with its top surface arranged flush with the upper margin of the trunk-body, said strip serving also as additional support for the rear edge of the lid when closed and as a better protection against the entrance of dirt or dust through the joint formed between the lid and trunk-body.

In order that the front upper corners of the end walls A A of the trunk-body may be supported upon the inside against external pressure or shocks, so as to render the trunk practically of the same strength and rigidity when closed as though the front wall A were continued to the full height of the body, supports are provided upon the inside front of the lid, which engage and support said end walls when the lid is closed, said supports being herein shown as provided in the form of a sumiorting-strip B", secured against the inner surface of the front wall B of the lid and of suitable length to fit closely between the end walls A A when the lid is closed. Obviously the end portions Z) Z) of said strengtheniug-strip form supports which prevent any inward yielding of the upper front corner portions of the ends A A. It will be further obvious that it is not essential 'that said supporting-strip 13 extend throughout the full length of the trunk-lid; but the same may be made of two relatively short sections Z) Z), secured near each end of the lid, the part I) (indicated between the dotted lines) being omitted. The present form is, however, preferred as affording additional strength to the front corners of the lid throughout its entire length.

The rear lower corners of the end pieces I B of the cover B are cut olf, so as to form inclined rear end margins b and su pportingblocks O 0, corresponding in size and shape to the corners cut from the end walls B B are secured to the end walls of the trunk in position to support said inclined margins b b of the cover.

In order that the lower edges of the end walls of the lid may be held securely in position upon the end ledges e c and blocks 0'' O and prevented from lateral or outward movement, a metal socket F is secured upon each end strip 0 in position to receive a lug or dowelf, formed upon a metal casting or clip F, mounted at the lower rear angle of the trunk-lid.

G designates the usual valance-strip, secured to and extending around the lower margin of the lid, so as to overlap the joint formed between said lid and the supportingledges of the trunk-body when the trunk is closed, said valance being also shown as extended upward along the inclined rear end of the cover and arranged to overlap the filling-blocks O 0.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the construction of the front part of the trunk is identical .with that shown in said former figures; but in these latter figures the upper surfaces of the end ledges C C are made sloping or inclined upwardly from front to rear of the trunk, and the end walls 13 B of the lid, which rests upon said ledges O C", are correspondingly tapered. The rear side wall A of the trunkbody extends above the end wall a distance equal to the thickness of the top wall of the lid, and the rear edge of the latter is arranged to fit within and against the projection thus formed, as shown clearly in the drawings. A strengthening-strip E, similar to that of the former figures, is also provided.

Instead of the pin-and-socket construction for locking the rear ends of the end walls B of the lid and the body together in the present modification I have provided at each corner a combined hinge and corner-clan'ip,which is so constructed as to form a socket for said rear end of the lid. 11 designates said hinge as a whole, comprising a lower leaf 7t, secured to the rear side wall of the trunk, adjacent to the corner thereof, and provided with a lateral right-angled extension or flange 7t, which embraces and is secured to the side face of theend of the strip 0 which forms the end ledge of the trunk, and an upper leaf 7L2, secured to the top surface of the lid and also provided with a right-angled flange 7L3, which extends downward upon the end wall of the lid and is adapted to underlap or fit within the flange h of thelower leaf when the trunk is closed. The said flange 7t is of the full length of the lower leaf an d therefore extends vertically upward beyond the top surface of the end strip, thus forming, in conjunction with the leaf proper, a socket between its inner face and the face of the end wall of the trunk, adapted to receive the rear end of the end wall B of the lid and the flange 71,3 secured thereon. In order to facilitate the entrance of the upper flange within the socket formed by the lower-leaf flange, the latter is shown as rounded at its upper front corner h and made slightly flaring outward.

A trunk constructed in accordance with the present invention possesses important features of advantage. The cutting down of the front wall of the trunk facilitates access to the contents of the trunk, especially in lifting out a heavy tray or the like. At the same time the construction is such that none of the strength of the trunk is sacrificed, as hereinbefore set forth, While the construction by which the cover is made to interlock with and support the upper body of the trunk is an exceedingly practicable one.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a trunk-bodyhaving a front wall of less height than the end and rear wall thereof, of a lid hinged at one edge to the rear wall of the trunk-body having a top wall and end and front walls of which the end walls are arranged to overlap and fit outside of the trunk-body and the front wall is constructed to rest with its lower front edge in contact with the upper edge of the front wall of the trunk-body, the said end walls of the trunk-body being extended upwardly inside of the lid into contact with the top wall of the lid and supports secured to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid adapted to engage the inner surface of the end walls of the trunk-body when the lid is closed, substantially as described.

2. The combination with atrunk-body having a front wall of less height than the end and rear walls thereof, of a lid hinged at one edge to the rear wall of the trunk-body adapted to overlap and fit outside of the trunk body at its end walls and to close the space and rest in contact with the upper margin of the front wall of the trunk at its front, and a supporting-strip secured to the inner surface of the front wall of the cover and adapted to fit between and support the end walls of the trunk-body when the lid is closed, substantially as described.

3. In a trunk,the combination with atrunkbody, having a front Wall of less height than the rear and end Walls thereof, a lid hinged to the rear wall of the trunk and arranged to fit at its ends outside of theend Walls of the body and to close the space and rest in contact with the upper edge of the front wall of the trunk at its front, supports secured to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid adapted to engage the inner surface of and support the end walls of the body, strips secured upon the end Walls of the trunk forming supporting-ledges for the end Walls of the lid, supporting-blocks also secured to the end walls of the trunk at the rear ends of and above said end strips adapted to support end margins of the end walls of the lid, sockets secured to the trunk-body at the point of juncture of the end strips and supporting 

